Where is good for stainless steel intercooler pipes?
Discussion
Well, after a long time I've finally got my intercooler on my car.
The problem now is finding some decent pipes.
I was going to use mild steel as it's strong and easy to work with, and cheap. However, mandrel bent 2" isn't cheap, nor is just normal 'kink' bent 2" on a tight radius (quite hard to bend mild on a tight radius it seems, hence the high price)
Aluminium seems popular on Ebay, but it's hard to weld and get a good solid strong join (a friend used it and his joints opened up, great if you will use solid bits and then use silicone joins everywhere, but not so good for making bigger sections it seems)
Stainless, easy to weld, strong, not hugely expensive, but it's REALLY hard to find places that do a wide selection of bits to choose from like the ally bits on Ebay.
Does anyone know of a good resource in the UK that does a wide range of 2" stainless parts? Ie, decent lengths (we can cut it down to length), 90deg bends, 45's etc etc...
Thanks
Dave
The problem now is finding some decent pipes.
I was going to use mild steel as it's strong and easy to work with, and cheap. However, mandrel bent 2" isn't cheap, nor is just normal 'kink' bent 2" on a tight radius (quite hard to bend mild on a tight radius it seems, hence the high price)
Aluminium seems popular on Ebay, but it's hard to weld and get a good solid strong join (a friend used it and his joints opened up, great if you will use solid bits and then use silicone joins everywhere, but not so good for making bigger sections it seems)
Stainless, easy to weld, strong, not hugely expensive, but it's REALLY hard to find places that do a wide selection of bits to choose from like the ally bits on Ebay.
Does anyone know of a good resource in the UK that does a wide range of 2" stainless parts? Ie, decent lengths (we can cut it down to length), 90deg bends, 45's etc etc...
Thanks
Dave
Try the custom exhaust people
like primary design in bicester
http://www.primarydesigns.co.uk/
or stainless steel tube technology in Oxford
http://www.sstubetechnology.com/company.htm
Matt
like primary design in bicester
http://www.primarydesigns.co.uk/
or stainless steel tube technology in Oxford
http://www.sstubetechnology.com/company.htm
Matt
I get all my stainless steel tube and fittings from Euro Stainless Ltd in Blackburn. Ask for Bill or Neil. They can supply bends in all sizes, in various radii, and in either 304L or 316L, in polished or mill finish. Tell them Dave from NTEL put you on to them and they will look after you.
http://www.eurostainless.co.uk/
http://www.eurostainless.co.uk/
Edited by NTEL on Tuesday 19th August 21:11
I'm just got a very reasonable (best so far) from these guys for a bunch of different bends for s/s :
http://www.jpexhausts.co.uk/Site/Services.htm
email for quote : jim@jpexhausts.co.uk
http://www.jpexhausts.co.uk/Site/Services.htm
email for quote : jim@jpexhausts.co.uk
Hmmm, I tried contacting a few (email) but haven't had any responses yet, so I guess they are really busy or don't want business
I ended up just buying a load of ally 2" bends/straights, so much infact that I'm pretty sure I have every concievable piece I could possibly need and so don't actually need to weld it, or have unnecessary joints!
We got some ally wire and the right gas for the mig, but it's a tad more tricky to do than good old mild steel
Need to practice a bit!
Thanks
Dave
I ended up just buying a load of ally 2" bends/straights, so much infact that I'm pretty sure I have every concievable piece I could possibly need and so don't actually need to weld it, or have unnecessary joints!
We got some ally wire and the right gas for the mig, but it's a tad more tricky to do than good old mild steel
Need to practice a bit!
Thanks
Dave
Mr Whippy said:
Hmmm, I tried contacting a few (email) but haven't had any responses yet, so I guess they are really busy or don't want business
I ended up just buying a load of ally 2" bends/straights, so much infact that I'm pretty sure I have every concievable piece I could possibly need and so don't actually need to weld it, or have unnecessary joints!
We got some ally wire and the right gas for the mig, but it's a tad more tricky to do than good old mild steel
Need to practice a bit!
Thanks
Dave
Feed some gas to the inside of the pipe while you are welding it Dave, makes a big difference.I ended up just buying a load of ally 2" bends/straights, so much infact that I'm pretty sure I have every concievable piece I could possibly need and so don't actually need to weld it, or have unnecessary joints!
We got some ally wire and the right gas for the mig, but it's a tad more tricky to do than good old mild steel
Need to practice a bit!
Thanks
Dave
Mr Whippy said:
Hmmm, I tried contacting a few (email) but haven't had any responses yet, so I guess they are really busy or don't want business
I ended up just buying a load of ally 2" bends/straights, so much infact that I'm pretty sure I have every concievable piece I could possibly need and so don't actually need to weld it, or have unnecessary joints!
We got some ally wire and the right gas for the mig, but it's a tad more tricky to do than good old mild steel
Need to practice a bit!
Thanks
Dave
It sure is difficult - I did a small alloy 3mm thick bracket.I ended up just buying a load of ally 2" bends/straights, so much infact that I'm pretty sure I have every concievable piece I could possibly need and so don't actually need to weld it, or have unnecessary joints!
We got some ally wire and the right gas for the mig, but it's a tad more tricky to do than good old mild steel
Need to practice a bit!
Thanks
Dave
Used 0.8mm alloy wire and 1.00 mm tip (helps stop the wire sticking) - needs quite a lot of amps and high wire feed - probably nearly twice the speed for the same thickness steel. Alloy was weird properties when being mig welded..
Good luck.
Haha, I think I'll need lots of practice to get good with ally
We have a decent sized compressor (probably 50 gallon capacity), so can pump air through the pipes at a fair old rate while working on it, that should help keep it cooler
Fingers crossed my current setup will all go in without any welds anyway, that will be the idea setup... no weak points!
I'll be sure to post pics when it's finished too!
Thanks once again.
Dave
We have a decent sized compressor (probably 50 gallon capacity), so can pump air through the pipes at a fair old rate while working on it, that should help keep it cooler
Fingers crossed my current setup will all go in without any welds anyway, that will be the idea setup... no weak points!
I'll be sure to post pics when it's finished too!
Thanks once again.
Dave
Mr Whippy said:
Haha, I think I'll need lots of practice to get good with ally
We have a decent sized compressor (probably 50 gallon capacity), so can pump air through the pipes at a fair old rate while working on it, that should help keep it cooler
Fingers crossed my current setup will all go in without any welds anyway, that will be the idea setup... no weak points!
I'll be sure to post pics when it's finished too!
Thanks once again.
Dave
He didnt mean cool it with air I'm sure.We have a decent sized compressor (probably 50 gallon capacity), so can pump air through the pipes at a fair old rate while working on it, that should help keep it cooler
Fingers crossed my current setup will all go in without any welds anyway, that will be the idea setup... no weak points!
I'll be sure to post pics when it's finished too!
Thanks once again.
Dave
With Alu and stainless, its good to backpurge the weld with the shielding gas.
stevieturbo said:
And with Alu....it has to be clean clean clean clean clean.
Yes - Aluminum rusts very quickly and so must be polished with a non steel item say a paper grinding pad and then welded.. as others have said - you can preheat it and block the tube and fill it with inert gas of your choice..I've just plumbed my intercooler in using one of the ebay pipe kits. The pipes are nicley bent etc and shiny - the problem is when you come to weld them; you need to extensivley grind them right back because they have applied a clear powder coat (or similar) to them.
The couplers that came with the kit are just cheap PVC things, which are only really any good for mock-up and basic testing - mine kept blowing off.
Once i had it all figured out, I replaced the pipes with proper silicon pipes and genuine mikalor pipe clamps.
You can see how much i had to clean the pipe up compared to the otherL
http://www.mez.co.uk/dcam/DSCF3062.JPG
(And dont comment about the merge, its temporary until I can be bothered sit sit down one afternoon and make another one)
The couplers that came with the kit are just cheap PVC things, which are only really any good for mock-up and basic testing - mine kept blowing off.
Once i had it all figured out, I replaced the pipes with proper silicon pipes and genuine mikalor pipe clamps.
You can see how much i had to clean the pipe up compared to the otherL
http://www.mez.co.uk/dcam/DSCF3062.JPG
(And dont comment about the merge, its temporary until I can be bothered sit sit down one afternoon and make another one)
GreenV8S said:
stevieturbo said:
And with Alu....it has to be clean clean clean clean clean.
I've never done it, but I've been shown aluminium brazing and it looked incredibly easy - and the join was stronger than the surrounding material.http://www.welduk.com/Details.asp?ProductID=458
eliot said:
I've just plumbed my intercooler in using one of the ebay pipe kits. The pipes are nicley bent etc and shiny - the problem is when you come to weld them; you need to extensivley grind them right back because they have applied a clear powder coat (or similar) to them.
The couplers that came with the kit are just cheap PVC things, which are only really any good for mock-up and basic testing - mine kept blowing off.
Once i had it all figured out, I replaced the pipes with proper silicon pipes and genuine mikalor pipe clamps.
You can see how much i had to clean the pipe up compared to the otherL
http://www.mez.co.uk/dcam/DSCF3062.JPG
(And dont comment about the merge, its temporary until I can be bothered sit sit down one afternoon and make another one)
Yeah, our pipes look very shiny, I wasn't sure if it was polished alot and coated somehow, they look a little like stainless steel.The couplers that came with the kit are just cheap PVC things, which are only really any good for mock-up and basic testing - mine kept blowing off.
Once i had it all figured out, I replaced the pipes with proper silicon pipes and genuine mikalor pipe clamps.
You can see how much i had to clean the pipe up compared to the otherL
http://www.mez.co.uk/dcam/DSCF3062.JPG
(And dont comment about the merge, its temporary until I can be bothered sit sit down one afternoon and make another one)
Either way they sand back ok... we got decent seperate silicone joins seperately, the ally pipes were just big (lots left on each side of the bends to reduce need for welding) and relatively cheap...
As said, hopefully I'll get away without any welding. Might not manage to do it this weekend though, my last shipment of expensive special sized silicone (from Peugeot size pipes onto the 2" system, at weird angles) is still on an aeroplane over Iraq I think
Ah well, gives me more time to do more testing in preparation for making the remap that will hopefully get me a nice round 250lbft and 160bhp
Dave
Edited by Mr Whippy on Friday 12th September 09:50
rev-erend said:
GreenV8S said:
stevieturbo said:
And with Alu....it has to be clean clean clean clean clean.
I've never done it, but I've been shown aluminium brazing and it looked incredibly easy - and the join was stronger than the surrounding material.Gassing Station | Engines & Drivetrain | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff